1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a martial arts practice device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a martial arts practice device which adjustably supports a striking pad over a resilient base and which is adapted to absorb the force of the blow delivered to the pad.
2. Description of Related Art
For practitioners of the martial arts, it is desirable to develop a great deal of speed and accuracy in punching and kicking. One common way of developing these skills is to have a partner hold up a striking target having a handle, often called a focus pad, in various positions while the person practicing attempts to kick or punch the target. While this is generally effective, the necessity of having a partner to hold up the focus pad can be an inconvenience.
In order to avoid this problem, several devices which support a striking target to allow a person to develop their martial art skills have been disclosed in the related art. These have included a variety of wall mounted and freestanding devices which utilize a variety of means to resiliently support a striking target in a fixed or adjustable position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,679, issued Jan. 11, 1994 to Ray L. Wells, discloses a martial arts practice apparatus having a target pad mounted on a horizontally extending arm which may be removably secured to a vertical shaft at several vertical increments. The shaft is rotatably supported by a base which houses a spring loaded resistance system that returns the shaft and target pad back to their original positions after the target pad has been struck from either side.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,630, issued May 5, 1987 to Michael J. Dignard and Paul C. Roberts, and PCT Application Publication Number WO 94/11068, disclose wall mounted martial arts practice devices having resilient target members adapted to be struck from either side which may be mounted at varying heights on a wall attached member. In order to allow the target member to flex, the device of Dignard et. al. relies on a pair of springs connecting the target member and the wall attached member while in the device disclosed in the PCT Publication the target member is itself constructed of a flexible and resilient material.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,093,212, issued Jun. 6, 1978 to Ronald Harmon Jacques, and 5,464,377, issued Nov. 7, 1985 to Stephen E. Beeman, disclose wall mounted striking pad assemblies which rotatably support the striking pads and utilize spring assemblies to return the striking pads to their original positions. The device of Jacques is adapted to receive an upwardly directed blow while the device of Beeman is adapted to receive a blow directed at either of its sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,007,311, issued Oct. 31, 1911 to Arthur Aubriot Pons discloses a device having a striking pad resiliently supported by a stiff helical spring. The spring is mounted vertically on a stand that may include a spring encircling ring to cause the striking pad to rebound quickly.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,199,278, issued Sep. 26, 1916 to William R. Koch, and 4,807,871, issued Feb. 28, 1989 to Eric C. Bryson, disclose devices having target pads mounted on pivoting arms that provide resistance to the force of a blow delivered to the target pad by a user. In both of the above mentioned devices, the pivoting arms are connected to weights by a wire and pulley system to provide the means of resisting the force of a blow.
Soviet Patent Number 1,694,167, issued Nov. 30, 1991, discloses a martial arts training device having a pair of pivoting arms with target pads on the ends thereof. The device provides an angled frame on which a user is to stand when striking the target pads to increase the degree of difficulty in striking the pads and to simulate a more realistic fighting situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,875, issued Apr. 23, 1996 to Massimo Moretti, discloses a martial arts training device having a target pad mounted on a vertical arm extending from a mechanized base. The mechanized base moves the arm when the proximity or movement of a user is detected so that the user must attempt to strike a moving target.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,748, issued Mar. 16, 1982 to Efim Alter, European Patent Office document number 557,264, and Soviet Patent Number 1,655,524, disclose martial arts training devices having a plurality of moving arms which the user must attempt to strike while attempting to avoid being struck by the moving arms.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 356,127, discloses a decorative design for a martial arts training device having a plurality of target pads supported in various positions on a vertically disposed pole.
However, none of the prior art discloses a martial arts training device having an arm adapted to support a hand held focus pad in a number of incremental positions over a resilient pivoting base.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.